The Portland daily press., 1887-07-14

was expected the old Colby bill of 1883 would
encompass, before the Supreme Court step
ped in. 1t specifies way for quieting the
complaints Of minority stockholders of a
leased road by paying them damages. But it
Is with the practical results that would fol-
low the enactment of this Hazen bill that
the Portland & Ogdensburg railroad and the
people Of Portland are most concerned. The
Hazen bill would confirm to the Boston &
Maine possession of the Boston, Concord &
Montreal, (Which includes the short line
from Fabyan's to Scott's Mills, also possess
sion Of the Northern and the Manchester &
Lawrence. There is no doubt that the Ha-
zen bill will also give the Concord & Clare
mont, the Peterborough and the Peterbo-
rough & Hillsborough, two small roads not
indicated on the map, TO the Boston Il
Maine. The Nashua & Lowell already has
come to the Boston q Maine as part Of the
property Of the Boston & Lowell. Every
northern connection Of the Concord road
will thus be in the hands OF the
Boston & Maine; so will every
other connection but the little line that runs
from Manchester over to Portsmouth. With
tIlt IOdu 81 ouut III ny tllC DOolU1
and Maine. it can be but a short time, so its
friends say, before it will fall like a ripe
plum into the hands Of the Boston and
Maine. There Is another road that will also
find itself hemmed in by the Boston and
Maine-the Central Vermont. BY the side
of its powerful rival it will, such are the
prophecies here, be crippled and ultimately
swallowed up. The Vermont people are APP
prehensive of this, and have been talking of
sending help down to Concord to defeat the
Hazen bill. There is another possible re-
suit. The Boston and Maine have a line
from Rochester to Alton Bay. From Alton
Bay to Weirs, along the shore of Lake VIM
nepesaukee there is railroad chartered.
If the Boston and Maine shall be confirmed
in its possession of the Boston, Concord and
Montreal, it will be easy to get possession Of
the charter and build the link from Alton
Bay to Weirs. With these consummations
nothing could be more perfect than the ar
rangements of the Boston & Maine for hand
ling the through traffic from the Canadian
Pacific as well as all the other traffic of
Northern New England. From Newport,
where the Canadian Pacific through arrange
ment with the Southeastern Railway, now
delivers its freight, the Boston & Maine
might haul down the Passumpsic to Wells
river, then down the Boston, Concord &
Montreal to Concord. and thence to Boston.
Or, If the freight should be destined to Port
land instead Of Boston, at Welrs the Lake
Shore route could be taken to Alton Bay and
Rochester, and thence to Portland. A prom
inent railroad man, well acquainted with
Boston Il Maine affairs, says that freight
can be hauled as cheap or cheaper from New
port or Swanton via Wells river, Weirs and
Rochester to Portland over the Boston s.
Maine as it could over the Mountains on the
Portland and 0gdensburg.
If then, the Hazen bill passes. and the
Boston & Maine is as enterprising as the
law will let it be- (and they say here in Con-
cord IT generally isl what will become Of the
Portland q 0gdensburg2 This Is a ques-
tlon quite often asked here. The moment
the traveller reaches Fabyan's he will strike
Boston Il Maine. To the northwest all will
be Boston & Maine to the Canada line. To
the southwest viii lie the splendid lines Of
the Boston & Maine pouring the traffic Of
the west into Boston, perhaps into Portland
too. Mr.. Streeter, attorney for the Concord,
has computed before the railroad committee
the aggregate capital and debt Of the great
system that would fall TO the Boston Il
Maine If the Hazen bill should pass. Ex-
elusive of the Maine Central the capital
stock and indebtedness together Of this sys-
TEN would be ninety-four and one-third
million dollars. The State Of New Hamp-
shire would be entirely within its grip. The
Portland 4 Ogdensburg railroad would be at
its mercy. for beyond Fabyan every line inn
portant to western traffic, except the little
stretch that the 0gdensburg owns from
Scott's Mills to Lunenburg, would belong to
the Boston Il Maine.
And should the Boston & Maine accom-
plish its object and gain what it asks from
the Legislature; what then would its
destiny be? The Concord people have
theory which is interesting. The Boston &
Maine people sneer at it as fanciful, but the
Concord people continue to believe in t.
''The Boston Il Maine,' say the Concord
people, would be loading itself UP with q
good ideal Of Improbable property. The
Northern road is poor road, the Boston,
Concord & Montreal always has been poor.
though it has been doing better lately,the st.
Johnsbury and Lake Champlain is very poor,
even the Boston Il Lowell has not for ten
years earned a dividend. To manage this
whole system will be tax ON the resources
Of the present line to some extent. Now would
the Boston & Maine do this if it did not have
in view some further combination. That
further combination we believe will be with
the Canadian Pacific. The Canadian Paci-
iic will wait until the Boston 4 Maine has